Becky Morris never set out to be a plant-based pioneer, but if necessity is the mother of invention, then Morris is Rhode Island’s sweet treat matriarch.
Morris’s Celebrated bakeshop in Richmond has all the hallmarks of a dreamy Instagrammable aesthetic: a minimalist modern vibe in a clean-lined, sundrenched space with rows of colorful macarons, gooey cookies with crisp edges, cupcakes with swirly tops, cream pies with pillowy filling—and that’s just the start.
But a look inside the kitchen and even the most amateur baker would find some critical baking basics missing, namely eggs, milk and butter, and that’s just the way Morris, who adopted a vegan diet seven years ago, likes it.
“It’s been a journey. It changed so much for me,” says the plant-fueled proprietress, whose personal life unexpectedly changed the trajectory of her professional one.
“There were countless hours and long nights of recipe testing. I thought it was going to be easier than it actually was, but being my determined, stubborn self, I had to keep working at it and get it right.”
“When I got engaged and I was looking for wedding desserts that were vegan, and couldn’t really find anything out there that was nearby, or somebody specializing in it … I realized, ‘Hey, there’s a niche for this! Nobody’s doing it.’ So, I just decided that was going to be my focus.”
The Barrington native had worked in bakeries, making cupcakes and other treats, but lacked professional training. She started experimenting with making vegan renditions of traditional baked goods, spending countless hours testing dairy-free alternatives of standard baking ingredients.
“I have very vivid memories of the first product I made out of a commercial kitchen. I was trying to do a vegan French macaron,” she recalls. Finding very few recipes online (and even fewer appealing ones), she got to work.
“There were countless hours and long nights of recipe testing. I thought it was going to be easier than it actually was, but being my determined, stubborn self, I had to keep working at it and get it right.”
She learned that aquafaba, the brine from a can of chickpeas, made an adequate substitute for egg whites or, as in the case of a macaron, whipped similarly to an egg white.
“We were at a point where we were producing so many macarons that I was opening about 30 cans of chickpeas a week. People were joking with me that I should start a hummus business,” she laughs.
While the aquafaba discovery was a game changer, Morris was ready to take her baking to the next level, so she packed her bags and headed to the Vegan Gastronomy Cooking Academy in Spain. “They were doing some really revolutionary things over there,” she explains, including working with a potato protein as a better egg alternative, which allowed her to develop perfectly decadent, delicate, dairy-free macarons. “Because that’s really where my heart and soul was.”
Vegan desserts, pastries and wedding cakes became Morris’s full-time work. She aptly named the business Celebrated. The first brick-and-mortar location opened in Warwick in 2020, right as the pandemic placed its stranglehold, but earlier this year, Celebrated opened its new, highly lauded (and significantly bigger) bakeshop in Richmond. Croissants, scones, fluffy muffins, cookies, cupcakes, cakes, their signature French macarons, a whole menu of specialty seasonal goods and flavors, plus an entire menu of teas and espresso drinks, have earned a loyal and ever-growing following. Another population contributing to that success is customers seeking allergy-free treats and baked goods. “Gluten-free, soy-free, peanut-free, tree-nut-free; we love to be all inclusive and all accommodating,” says Morris. “At the core of what we do is we want to make everybody feel included and like they can celebrate as well.”
And for the inspiration of what started it all—creatively crafted vegan wedding cakes—Celebrated has become a coveted bakeshop, with Morris delivering her breathtaking creations from Cape Cod to Connecticut, Boston to Block Island.
“What we’re doing is just so specialty,” says Morris. “I feel like we’ve become the number one destination if you’re vegan and you’re getting married in New England; like, we’re at the top of your list, and I think that’s really cool.”
To the naked eye, there’s nothing “other” about Celebrated. You’d hardly know it’s a vegan bakeshop when walking through the doors, where it’s easy to be seduced by the wafting aroma of cinnamon, sugar, and just-out-of-the-oven brownies. Its “vegan-ness” is seemingly an afterthought. “I don’t really even promote that, honestly. It’s not at the forefront of our marketing that we’re vegan, because I really want it to be something that’s accessible to all and I really want to try and change the perception,” explains Morris.
Closing in on Celebrated’s first year in Richmond, the bakeshop also has a sizeable customer base that’s neither vegan nor managing dietary restrictions. “They come to us because they just love the way it tastes,” says Morris.
Andrea E. McHugh is a freelance writer who has written for the Hartford Courant, Baltimore Magazine, Daily Candy, Design Sponge, Providence Monthly and more. She resides in Newport.
Celebrated
5 Stilson Rd., Richmond, RI
401.787.4017, Celebrated.co
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